Hello to the first Sunday of the new year!
I do not know about you, but my favorite thing is starting a new year, because i can start clean and fresh and redesign myself or refocus on the things that i want most. 2013 was the first year i have made a Dream Board and this week when i was working on my new one, i saw that i actually accomplished more than 90% of the things i had wished to happen, which brought me lots of joy and ambition for the things i want to be, do or have in 2014!
How to start a dream board?
After listening to Tony Robbins and Robin Sharma and reading lots of books on self-development, i came up with some simple guidelines:
1. Take a white piece of paper and a blue ink pen and write down all the things that you want to BE, DO or HAVE if money was no object! This is the most important step and it should take a while so be patient and enjoy every second of it because it is for your own good. On average, you should fill one A4 page, front and back, but if you don’t it is still ok, for some people who do this the first time is hard to come up with things they want, but in time, you can do it again and you will be amazed by the result. During last year’s summer i would do it everyday as an exercise of believing and achieving everything that i want and it worked perfectly.
This is what i noticed that works best for me, but you can try it!
2. Divide your board in 4 equal sections: Professional, Hobby, Personal, and Social. People say, that in order for a human being to be happy all these 4 sections must be fulfilled and my experience has proven that. I was always focused on my studies and career and did not have time for myself, my hobbies and even my friends, which brought me negative thoughts and unhappiness. A few months ago, i started doing something for each section and things just changed completely.
3. Look at all the things you have written down at 1) and try to divide them into those 4 sections. Now think WHY you wan all those things to happen. Here is one example of what i have on my dream board:
Professional: Graduate as top of my class. Why: because i want to prove to myself that even if i am a girl i can still be the best at an engineering university in a field dominated by men: Power Engineering.
Hobby: Create hand-made useful presents for my friends and family. Why: because this way i am using my creativity and i am giving priceless gifts in which i put all my love and care.
Personal: Get a fit body! Why: because i want to be healthy and look good.
Social: Go out to dinner every week. Why: to feel good and talk to interesting people that can show me other paths i might not be able to see for myself.
4. At this step you can say I AM DONE or you can go deeper and divide each goal in small steps you can do every day/week/month depending on what you want to achieve and how easy or how hard it is. For example:
Professional: Graduate as top of my class. Steps: study for my exams, go to all important classes. Or even more specific: study everyday for 4 days for each exam.
Hobby: Create hand-made useful presents for my friends and family. Steps: one hour each week spend it looking at crafts on Pinterest and get some ideas and develop them.
Personal: Get a fit body! Since it is very hard for me to engage in sports, a small step for me would be to do the squat challenge and work on my abs daily.
Social: Go out to dinner every week. Steps: select a night of the week, when no matter of the weather or problems i will go out to enjoy a special evening with a friend and make a list with the friends i want to meet.
5. Ifyou got to this part, CONGRATULATION! Now you can actually start doing something and get a little bit closer to fulfilling your goals.
This exercise is not easy to do, because it will take a lot of time, BUT the ones who do it, know what they want in life and are now a step closer to getting it. All the others, are just floating through life hoping to get somewhere nice but have no clue what is that and when they will get there. Keep in mind these words of wisdom:
Alice: Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?
The Cat: That depends a good deal on where you want to get to.
Alice: I don’t much care where.
The Cat: Then it doesn’t much matter which way you go.
Alice: …so long as I get somewhere.
The Cat: Oh, you’re sure to do that, if only you walk long enough.
After you have figured out all the things that you want to BE, DO or HAVE its time to get some magazines or google online and find pictures or words of the things you want to stick them to your boards. There are a million ways to create one, i just gave you one idea, of how i am doing it, but here you have some other simple and easy Dream Boards to do. It does not matter how you do it, the first step is to start doing it.
Feature image: unsplash.com
